Beginning Farmers Find Ways to Get Started

By Ron Johnson, Dairy Editor
Wednesday, February 4, 2004 12:39 AM CST

"Getting Into Dairy Farming" - it's a topic that interests many people - young and not so young.

Last month's "Growing Wisconsin Dairy Farmers" Conference at Madison gave four farmers a chance to tell how they got into the business.

"It is very possible to start farming in Wisconsin, contrary to the naysayers you hear," asserted moderator Dick Cates. He directs the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers and had several graduates and current students at the session.

Would-be farmers are attracted to the business and the life-style by at least three factors, according to Cates. He said they want to "be in charge," work with land and livestock, and they want to be "part of a community in a significant way."

Cates related how he and his wife, Kim, purchased their farm 15 years ago. "It's been a great adventure," he said. "We would never change a thing, except for the toughest years in the middle."

Strobel gaining equity

Lloyd Holterman, who farms with his wife, Daphne, near Watertown, explained how they recently began letting long-time employee Tim Strobel work for equity in the 560-cow, 1,200-acre business.

In 1997 the Holtermans built their herd to 350 cows, from 140. Holterman related how he is more interested in cows than crops, so Strobel, who grew up next door, found a job on the farm. Strobel began working there at age 15 and now essentially handles all the farm's crops and machinery work.

Holterman explained that he and his wife set up a limited-liability corporation (LLC) that owns the cows, machinery and feed. Other people - such as Strobel - can buy into the corporation.

Strobel began his comments by apologizing, saying, "...I'm not the best speaker. I'm much better with a skid loader."

A short course graduate, Strobel said he doesn't really care to work with cows, "But I know the cows make the money." He added that he likes being the Holtemans' crops manager because he likes to make decisions, even though he is still accountable.

"I'm happy with my decision to join the LLC," he told his audience of approximately 100. ""I've learned a lot along the way," such as "making good decisions and spending money wisely."

Agri-View asked Holterman about giving up some control of the farm's management.

"Giving up control is something you have to take a different view of," Holterman replied. He said he wants the business to grow, and that it can grow faster under this arrangement. "We make more money working together than we could have separately," he added.

Some farmers do not have a good way for an employee to ease into the business, Holterman noted. In some cases the farm owner is 65 or close to it, and he or she tells an employee, "In two years you can buy in," he said. "Everybody ends up disappointed."

He hinted that giving up control can be tough: "When you spend your whole life building something up, you don't just forget about it the day after it's gone."

Wolf: New dairy

Joe Wolf started his own 45-cow dairy near Allenton. After attending the dairy herd management program offered by Lakeshore Technical College, he farmed with his father for a year.

Now he rents a barn from a retired farmer who supplies much of the herd's feed. Wolf recently bought 135 head. The business has enough work for him to hire his younger brother - a senior in high school - to work for him part-time. The arrangement lets Wolf have one day off each weekend, along with one or two evenings each week. If things go well, he said, he and his brother might go into dairying together in a year or so.

Wolf said he splits the milk check with the barn's owner. To get started, Wolf obtained a "beginning farmer loan" from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and used that to buy his first 53 head.

The barn rent and feed purchase arrangement helps Wolf keep his capital costs low. He said he owns very little in the way of machinery - just a skid loader and a feed cart. He also has no responsibilities for raising young stock, instead buying spring heifers from the farmer who owns the facilities.

Klinkner began with calf

Robert Klinkner and his wife, Gail, dairy near Westby. He explained that he grew up in town, but his grandfather farmed, and there was a 50-cow farm right across the street.

Klinkner's herd began with the purchase of a 4-H calf that took him "three summers" of working to pay for, he recalled. Later, he worked on farms large and small and three years ago was in the school for beginning dairy farmers. "Dick (Cates) really sparked me to go on my own," Klinkner remarked.

Armed with an FSA loan, Klinkner found a "nice facility" and forged a 50-50 arrangement with the owner. Klinkner milks 60 cows, raises his own replacements but buys feed. He has one person help him with the afternoon work, which frees Klinkner to do such things as observe cows for heat.

He ships his milk to a "high-components" plant in Minnesota and got $17.49 for his December milk. Klinkner has a three-year contract with the owner of the dairy facility and is thinking of keeping his first batch of heifers so he can expand to 90 cows this fall.

Klinkner's wife works at a feed mill, partly to obtain medical insurance. They do not live at the dairy, so Klinkner drives a mile-and-a-half each morning. "That's the only thing I don't like about it," he admitted.

Summing up, he said,"...It works out great."

Other choices?

Agri-View asked the panelists what they thought they would be doing if they were not farming.

Strobel answered that he would most likely be working in another agricultural endeavor, while Wolf asserted that he wants to do nothing else, noting that he can make a "good living" with 50 cows. Klinkner echoed that basic sentiment.

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